Week 4: New Orleans Saints vs Buffalo Bills Preview
When and Where: Sunday, September 28th, 1:00 PM at Highmark Stadium
How to Watch: Airing on CBS
Betting Line: Buffalo -15.5 O/U 47.5
Key Storylines
Rookie Head Coach Part 2: First-year coach, Kellen Moore, will be looking to get his first win. This is the second matchup of the season for the Bills vs a rookie head coach. McDermott is 21-7 in his career, regular season and playoffs, when facing a first-year head coach.
No Turnovers: Buffalo hasn't turned the ball over in 8 straight games, tying the record set by the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills have won or tied the turnover battle in their last 25 contests (Denver Broncos, Week 10, 2023 Season.)
Home Cooking: The Bills will be looking to win their 14th consecutive game at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. They have scored at least 24 points during the 13-game home winning streak.
Where’s the Pass Rush? The Bills revamped their defensive line this offseason, but have not achieved the results many were expecting. Ed Oliver will be missing his third consecutive game, so who will step up against an offensive line that is a middle-of-the-pack unit?
Feed James Cook: James Cook has a rushing touchdown in seven consecutive regular-season games, tied for the team record.
Friday Injury Reports
Matchups to Watch
Bills LBs vs NO Short Passing Game: The Saints 5.3 yards per attempt, 30th in the NFL, and 8 yards per reception, 32nd in the NFL. Alvin Kamara and Juwan Johnson are two players to keep an eye on with their YAC ability on the short passes. Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams will need to be ready in pass coverage.
Special Teams: The Saints are one of the worst teams in the NFL in both FG % and kickoff coverage. They have made 57.1% of their field goals on the year and are giving up 30.3 yards per return on kickoffs.
Bills Passing Attack vs Saints Secondary: The Saints have given up 8 plays of 20+ yards and 3 plays of 40+ yards in the passing game with 7 touchdowns. Josh Allen and the Bills offense have 12 totals plays for 20/40+ yards in the passing game so far this season. How will New Orleans slow them down?
Saints Linebackers vs Bills Rushing Attack: Demario Davis and Pete Werner are tackling machines that will be looking to slow down the number 1 rushing attack in the NFL. The duo has 58 combined tackles with 4 TFLs through the first 3 weeks of the season.
X Factors
New Orleans Saints: Spencer Rattler and Carl Granderson. Rattler has talent. Will he look like he did against the 49ers (3 TDs) or like he did vs Arizona (58.7 completiton % 0 TDs)? If he has a good start and gets some confidence against a mediocre Bills’ pass rush then he can set himself up for a good day. Granderson is off to a good start this season leading the Saints with 3.5 sacks and 4 TFLs. The Bills offensive line is playing very well but Granderson is a player that can disrupt their passing game and rushing attack with his ability to create pressure.
Buffalo Bills: Cole Bishop and Khalil Shakir. Bishop needs to step up in the run game and pass coverage against a team that utilizes the short passing game more than most teams in the NFL. I expect the RBs and TEs to have a lot of targets on Sunday so Bishop will need to be ready for the task. Shakir has had a pretty quiet start to the 2025 season but has a favorable matchup against the Saints. Their defense is allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete almost 71% of their passes with a 118 QB rating. Shakir had a good bounce back game in week 3 after a poor performance against the Jets.
Keys to Victory
The Bills use the homecrowd advantage to jump out to an early lead and force the Saints into a passing game. Rattler isn’t able to get in a rhytm and the running game never gets established. Buffalo continues their turnover success for a 26th straight game.
Prediction
Bills 38 Saints 16
Go Bills!
